


secret santa

by hwanrem



Category: VIXX
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Highschool AU, M/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 09:13:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8973721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hwanrem/pseuds/hwanrem
Summary: Hakyeon’s gaze falls on Jaehwan as the younger slowly opens his folded slip. He chuckles at how naturally cute Jaehwan is -- squeezing his eyes shut upon unfolding the piece of paper, pink lips parting in a silent countdown before finally blinking open, eyes wide and unable to hold back his gasp at the name written on it. Jung Taekwoon.





	

**Author's Note:**

> merry (early) christmas! :D

‘So hyung,’ Sanghyuk slings an arm across a smiling Hakyeon’s shoulder, ‘You must be happy, huh. Being entrusted with the planning of this year’s Secret Santa activity?’

‘Of course,’ Hakyeon grins, ‘I’m perfect for the job, you see. Responsible, outgoing, friendly-- ouch, what the hell!’

‘Stop with the bullshit,’ Sanghyuk laughs as he jokingly smacks Hakyeon over the head. ‘Our teacher just likes you, that’s all.’

The bright, angelic smile is back on Hakyeon’s face. ‘Yes, and the above mentioned character traits are precisely the reasons why.’

‘Stop lying to yourself,’ Sanghyuk rolls his eyes and playfully hits Hakyeon again. ‘Anyway. Since you’re in such a high position of power at the moment, I shall be nice to you. Please, don’t put me with someone I dislike.’

‘Sucking up to me only at such a time like this, huh.’ Hakyeon’s tone hardens as he glares at Sanghyuk. The stern expression quickly melts away into one of glee, though. ‘Then I’ll put you with your biggest crush! It’s Lee Hongbin, isn’t it--‘

‘Hey!’ Sanghyuk babbles, response impossibly quick as he reaches up to cover Hakyeon’s loud mouth, bringing the elder into a brutal headlock. ‘That one time I kissed him was purely by accident, I swear. Cha Hakyeon, you better not--‘

‘Fuck-- okay, okay I won’t, now stop smothering me to death, you guys wouldn’t want that--‘

‘I’d be perfectly fine, in all honesty.’ Sanghyuk finally releases his grip on a gasping Hakyeon’s neck, smiling angelically.

‘Asshole,’ Hakyeon rubs at his neck, before his gaze falls onto a dazed-looking Jaehwan, walking listlessly and unusually quiet beside the both of them. ‘Jaehwan, anything wrong?’

It takes a few taps on Jaehwan’s shoulder before the blonde finally snaps out of it, seemingly confused and surprised. ‘Oh? Sorry, I was thinking about something else.’

‘What?’ Sanghyuk inquires, but Jaehwan shakes his head and bites his lip sheepishly. ‘Nothing of your concern.’

‘Bet he’s got someone he wants to be paired up with in mind,’ Sanghyuk concludes and elbows Hakyeon, the two exchanging knowing, cheeky grins. Jaehwan is obviously flustered by their reactions, and tries to cover up quickly by denying it. But the three have known each other for way _too_ long for Hakyeon and Sanghyuk not to realise that Jaehwan is, very obviously, lying.

‘Sorry to burst your bubble, Jaehwan, but the blush on your cheeks and your stuttering is totally giving it all away.’

‘W-Who says?’ It’s just--‘

‘It’s Taekwoon, isn’t it. Jung Taekwoon.’

Jaehwan’s expression at the sudden attack is priceless: eyes widening comically, mouth gaping open, the flush on his cheeks darkening even more with embarrassment at the exposure of what he thought to be a well-kept secret. Jaehwan sighs, bites his lip at the triumphant smiles blooming on both Hakyeon and Sanghyuk’s faces, their exchange of a gleeful hi-five.

‘How--‘

‘You’re cute, hyung, if you’ve been thinking all this while that your crush isn’t obvious.’ Sanghyuk slings an arm around a pouting Jaehwan’s shoulder, now, teasingly poking at his side. ‘Not obvious at all.’

Hakyeon grins, a spring to his step as he proceeds to Jaehwan’s free side and slings his own arm around a flushed Jaehwan as well. ‘Sanghyuk’s right, Jaehwan. Did you really think you weren’t obvious about your crush on that Jung Taekwoon guy? I mean, we’ve all caught you staring lovingly at that guy during class at least once a day. And how your disobedient ears perk up at every mention of--‘

‘Stop, stop, enough.’ Jaehwan hurriedly interrupts, cheeks impossibly hot, embarrassed about  the sudden tea-spilling of his stupid crush-driven actions. Oh well. Guess it wasn’t a secret anymore. Or ever one to begin with.

‘I know who to put Jaehwan with, then.’

‘Hey, it’s supposed to be randomised, you cheater,’ Jaehwan stops and hits at Hakyeon’s chest. ‘Oh, why do I have literal devils for friends?’

(He wouldn’t mind, though, not at all.)

‘Yet another of my kind acts going unappreciated.’ Hakyeon sighs and wipes an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. ‘Fine, fine! No rigging, I promise.’

(It’ll be nice to be Cupid this season, Hakyeon decides.)

 

═ ❄ ═

 

‘Class!’ Hakyeon claps twice as he stands in front of the room, and the attention is diverted to him quickly. ‘Before lessons start in a few minutes, I’d like you guys to look into your pencil cases!’

Hushed whispers of confusion start spreading amongst the class, and Hakyeon smiles as he watches the students look curiously into their pencil cases.

‘You’ll find a little folded slip of paper inside, which I painstakingly placed in each one of your cases during break. In it, contains the name of the classmate you’ll be getting the gift for!’

The students start finding and unfolding the little pieces of paper one-by-one, and the class is immediately filled with cries of excitement and surprise. Being the angel, and because he knew many of his classmates quite well, Hakyeon had slightly changed up some names here and there from the randomized list, to make sure no arch-enemies were put together or something. Though, that’d be quite interesting to watch, no lie.

Hakyeon’s gaze falls on Jaehwan as the younger slowly opens his folded slip. He chuckles at how naturally cute Jaehwan is -- squeezing his eyes shut upon unfolding the piece of paper, pink lips parting in a silent countdown before finally blinking open, eyes wide and unable to hold back his gasp at the name written on it.

_Jung Taekwoon._

If Hakyeon had rigged it: Jaehwan doesn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, confused on whether to piss at and kick Hakyeon or embrace his friend in the tightest and warmest possible hug ever. And if Hakyeon hadn’t rigged it at all: there’s a warm, fluttery feeling inside his stomach, his heart pounding unusually fast -- then it must be Fate that so kindly decided on this outcome. Jaehwan squeezes his eyes shut and mutters out a word of thanks before looking over to Taekwoon. Taekwoon looks stunned, dark eyes blankly trained onto the piece of paper on his table. His lips are curled upwards so slightly, almost unnoticeably, a faint pink tinge on his cheeks -- it stirs an almost unsettling feeling of jealousy inside of Jaehwan: perhaps Taekwoon too, had a crush on someone else?

(Jaehwan prays hard that it isn’t the case.)

 

═ ❄ ═

 

 ‘Hey, Taekwoon.’

Taekwoon looks up from his desk, surprised to see Hakyeon and Sanghyuk standing in front, bright smiles on their faces. Jaehwan, standing somewhere behind them, seems to be sporting a look of pure horror.

‘Wanna join us and Jaehwan after school? We’ll be hanging out at the nearby café to warm ourselves up, and we can get to know each other better too!’

Yeah, sure, get to know each other better when the school term is closing in two months. Perhaps, one of them is in charge of buying the present for Taekwoon but absolutely clueless about what to get -- and so using this as an opportunity to probe more?

‘Uhm… Give me some time to consider--‘

‘We won’t bite, I swear. No need time to consider. With such great company, of course it’s a definite, immediate yes!’ Hakyeon exclaims, and gestures over to Jaehwan, who’s hiding behind, looking extremely flustered and it doesn’t take much for Taekwoon to tell that Jaehwan’s two friends had done this without his consent.

‘Our good friend Jaehwan here is really, really excited for our date-- I mean, hangout, and really hopes you can join us!’

Jaehwan gasps at this, and not-so-subtly smacks Hakyeon’s back quickly in some attempt to shut the elder up and save his own face -- Jaehwan almost wants to turn into a puff of smoke and disappear from the surface of Earth when he catches the curious glint in Taekwoon’s dark eyes, as if he’d taken Hakyeon’s words seriously.

A part of Taekwoon wants to spare Jaehwan the shame and refuse the offer, yet there’s another part of him that takes a slight liking to Jaehwan because of his unexplainable yet cute antics -- confident and loud when with his group of friends, yet always turning into a completely different person whenever Taekwoon encounters him: gaze flickering, speech soft and stuttered. This part of Taekwoon yearns to agree, just to see that pink flush on Jaehwan’s cheeks redden even more--

‘Well, okay.’ Jaehwan’s eyes widen impossibly beneath rounded glasses at Taekwoon’s keen response. ‘Sure. I’ll join you, then. I have no other company anyways.’

At this, Hakyeon and Sanghyuk both leap in excitement and it’s a wonder how synchronised the two are -- to the point it almost seems as if all of their movements are pre-coordinated. Taekwoon smiles to himself as Sanghyuk and Hakyeon both hi-five each other and giggle at a furiously flushed and babbling Jaehwan.

//

Jaehwan sighs and licks his lips as he walks towards the lockers where the four of them were supposed to meet, wetting them as he always does whenever he’s nervous, pulling his coat and scarf tighter around his body. Jaehwan stops and looks up through his mussed fringe to see only Taekwoon waiting -- hands shoved into the pockets of his long, dark coat, lips tugging up slightly at the corners and cheeks blushed from the chilly weather. He looks so _pretty_ standing there and the dreamy gaze is back in Jaehwan’s eyes and, wait--

Where the hell were Hakyeon and Sanghyuk?

Jaehwan quickly fiddles for the phone in his pocket as he walks towards where Taekwoon’s waiting. When Taekwoon notices, he smiles and looks almost somewhat _excited_ , or is that all in Jaehwan’s head?

‘Hi, Jaehwan.’

‘Oh, h-hey! You’re here already.’

‘Yeah, shall we go now?’

‘Wait, b-but,’ Jaehwan’s fishes out the phone from his pocket, ‘Hakyeon and Sanghyuk aren’t here yet, I’ll message them first.’

‘Oh. Right,’ Taekwoon rubs at his neck sheepishly, ‘Forgot for a split second.’

Jaehwan’s breath hitches in his throat as he hastily types out a message into their group chat. Taekwoon… Taekwoon forgot? He’d assumed it was just the two of them for a moment -- Jaehwan bites his lip, heart beating faster in his chest, both at the casual statement and also in anticipation and anxiety while waiting for those devils’ replies--

‘Fuck,’ Jaehwan curses and looks over to Taekwoon quickly, large eyes widening cutely before his hand flies up to cover his mouth, ‘Oops.’

‘It’s alright,’ Taekwoon chuckles and the look in his eyes is so _warm_ , ‘So, where are those two friends of yours?’

_‘Hey Jaehwan, we’ve got something urgent to attend to so we can’t make it, unfortunately_ _:)_ _’_

_‘Have fun, Jaehwan.’_

_‘Don’t miss us too much!’_

_‘Why would he miss us, Sanghyuk-ah, when he’s alone with the guy of his dreams?’_

_‘You’re right. Wishful thinking on my part’_

‘Well, err-- Hakyeon said he and Sanghyuk had to settle something important that cropped up all of a sudden and-- won’t be able to make it today,’ Jaehwan sighs as he furiously types out a reply in the group chat.

_‘Fuck you guys.’_

_‘You’ll thank us later_ _:)_ _’_

‘Ohh, okay,’ Taekwoon looks over and notices the look of fury in Jaehwan’s eyes, his bitten lip, the pads of his  fingers moving quickly over the on-screen keyboard. ‘Is… everything okay?’

‘Oh?’ Jaehwan looks up and blushes when he sees the concern on Taekwoon’s face. God,  hopefully Taekwoon didn’t peep at their chat or something and found out the true reason behind those devils’ absence _and_ about his crush -- Jaehwan makes a mental note to cancel their years of friendship tomorrow.

‘Y-Yeah, sure! Don’t worry too much. Umm-- let’s go?’

 

═ ❄ ═

 

‘Woah, didn’t know this was such a popular place amongst our schoolmates,’ Taekwoon wonders aloud, a look of adorable awe on his face as they enter the little café: it’s got a really welcoming atmosphere, it’s really warm inside and hence serves as a great escape from the chilly weather -- little tables scattered over and accompanied with padded, comfortable chairs. The place is filled with students of all ages from their school, a considerably long line at the counter, bags and belongings carelessly strewn across  the tables and seats to mark their territories.

‘Yeah! Is… is this your first time here?’

‘Yeah,’ Taekwoon smiles, ‘I usually head back right after lessons end.’

‘Oh, is that so?’ Jaehwan walks around the café, keen eyes desperately looking for an empty table somewhere and there, finally: Jaehwan claps his hands in glee when he spots it, immediately quickening his steps towards it -- an unoccupied, small round table, right at the corner of the café. ‘Thank goodness we found a place! As you can see, it’s a really popular café and gets really crowded at times, especially during the winter.’ Jaehwan smiles, and slings his bag onto the chair. ‘Like, right now.’

‘Yeah, that’s great,’ Taekwoon laughs, ‘I wouldn’t have spotted this table. You’re really observant.’

‘Nah.. It’s nothing much, I’m pretty used to it,’ Jaehwan bites his lip, the corners of his lips itching to break out into a shy smile. ‘Let’s go order?’

‘Yeah, we better head there quick. Gosh, that queue.’

//

‘Do you and your friends often hang out here after school?’

‘Yeah, we do.’ Jaehwan pushes his hands into the pockets of his coat, happy that Taekwoon had initiated the conversation. ‘It’s almost kind of like a secret hideout, for the three of us,’ Jaehwan’s eyes shining when Taekwoon chuckles at his statement, amused. ‘We come here to rest and chat and during exam periods, to study. The food here is amazingly good and the café has such a homely atmosphere; the staff are really nice as well and some even know our names and recognise our faces!’

‘Wow, by any chance, has the café sponsored you or something?’ Taekwoon jokes, pleased at the flush on Jaehwan’s cheeks. ‘If they haven’t, they really should. I must say I am absolutely convinced already, of the greatness of this café.’

Jaehwan only smiles weakly, heart fluttering in his chest and he almost forgets he’s in a queue for a moment, before snapping out of his daze and hastily moving in front.

‘The staff is pretty efficient, I must say. We’re almost at the front of the queue already!’ Taekwoon smiles and scans over the menu hanging over the counter -- the aesthetics of the café are really pretty: the menu painstakingly handwritten in white chalk onto a clean, black chalkboard, with little cute drawings and decorations along the borders. ‘Since you’re a regular here, you must have some recommendations?’

‘Yeah, s-sure!’ Jaehwan takes a teeny step closer to Taekwoon and pretends to scan over the menu he knows all too well by now. ‘Umm… I think you should try their lava cakes! They’re my personal favourite from this café, besides, this café is really well known for them too!’

‘Oh, is that true?’ Taekwoon grins at Jaehwan, ‘I shall take your recommendation then!’

In a short while, the two of them finish placing their orders -- Jaehwan, a cup of hot chocolate and a chocolate lava cake; and Taekwoon, a cup of hot latte and a matcha lava cake, supposedly the café’s popular choice.

‘Oh? Your order is here already,’ Jaehwan looks at Taekwoon and gestures to his tray. ‘You could… go and settle down first?’

‘It’s okay, a little waiting won’t hurt,’ Taekwoon’s lips are curling up, eyes crinkling into little pretty crescents and Jaehwan’s heart nearly stops. He recovers quickly, though, thankfully, when his tray arrives. Jaehwan sighs as he picks up the tray, smiles weakly at Taekwoon.

‘You’re really a big fan of chocolate, huh.’ Taekwoon laughs as they put their trays down onto the table, ‘Chocolate drink, chocolate dessert.’

‘Yeah, I guess you could say that,’ Jaehwan laughs nervously at all of the sudden attention from Taekwoon. God, this is such a great idea and such a horrible one at the same time. It’s an awesome setting for a cute little date -- it’ll be perfect, if only Jaehwan doesn’t feel like his heart is making attempts to leap out of his chest each time Taekwoon does something that makes him fall a little more in love.

Which honestly is, practically _everything_.

//

‘You weren’t kidding with your praise about this café, I see,’ Taekwoon’s eyes widen with amazement when he takes a bite into the matcha lava cake, eyes falling shut in bliss as he savours the cake, sighing with contentment. ‘It’s delicious.’

‘Of course!’ Jaehwan starts, then immediately blushes at his unintended outburst, which Taekwoon chuckles at. ‘I mean, yeah sure! Their stuff is great.’ Jaehwan bites his lip as he pushes a fork through his own chocolate lava cake, satisfied at the way the warm and thick substance oozes out, its sweet smell already filling Jaehwan’s senses. Jaehwan makes a cute noise of contentment as he chews at his cake.

The way Jaehwan acts just really makes you want to… dote on him, somehow, Taekwoon thinks. He’s not felt this feeling in a pretty long time, the only times being when he meets children or small animals. Taekwoon smiles and scoops another bite of cake into his mouth, making sure to dip it into the warm matcha filling, warmth spreading in his chest.

'Hakyeon said this meetup was so as to get to know me better,' Taekwoon chuckles, and takes a sip of his latte, nods with contentment at the rich taste. 'Funny when there's only like, two months left till we graduate.'

Jaehwan's still munching happily on his cake, cheeks bulging at the sides -- he's obviously taken aback when Taekwoon suddenly speaks, eyes wide as he quickens his chewing, makes some flustered gestures for Taekwoon to wait while he swallows. Cute.

'Ahh,' Jaehwan says when his mouth is finally cleared, embarrassed. 'You know how Hakyeon is, he thinks of himself as... very sociable and well-liked by all,' Jaehwan scoffs good-heartedly and Taekwoon grins. 'Probably listing down the people he's rarely talked to and taking the rest of the year to... forge the maximum number of friendships possible.'

'Oh, that's... nice,' Taekwoon says, amused. He looks up and makes eye contact with a wide eyed Jaehwan, gesturing towards him.

'What about you? We've not talked much this year... I must really have a sixth sense or something,' Taekwoon chuckles, 'I always seem to catch you looking over to my seat?'

'Uhhh, I-I,' Jaehwan blabbers, shocked at the sudden question and absolutely clueless on what to say. Was Taekwoon having fun, teasing him? Maybe he’s completely aware of Jaehwan's crush all this while and Hakyeon and Sanghyuk were right about it not being a secret after all? Jaehwan bites his lip, if only he could just, dig a hole in the ground and bury himself in it to save himself the need to answer -- Jaehwan looks over to Taekwoon and there’s a bright, expectant look in his eyes.

'I... I've always wanted to initiate some kind of conversation with you to umm, get to know you better but just never... found the right time to? Also,' Jaehwan takes a sip of comforting hot chocolate to calm his nerves, 'You rarely speak in class which might come off a little... intimidating sometimes?' Jaehwan curses at himself mentally, that's _totally_ not the right thing to say. 'But I mean, I'm completely cool with it! I kinda... like it? That you're not extremely open to everyone... I guess?'

The embarrassed look in those wide eyes and the pretty pink flush staining Jaehwan’s entire face as well as the tips of his ears is enough to have Taekwoon’s chest filling with that nice, warm feeling again.

‘I’m glad you like that,’ Taekwoon takes another sip of his latte, smiling. ‘Many think I’m unapproachable at first, but you’ll see that I open up pretty easily the moment you get to know me or initiate any sort of conversation with me. I’m pretty much just like everyone else.’

‘Yeah, it’s a huge relief,’ Jaehwan laughs weakly, scooping up a piece of cake into his mouth. ‘I could tell, from how much more you spoke than I expected. Which is great!’

‘Glad we could have this little chat to clear some doubts and warm up to each other.’ Taekwoon brings the little ceramic cup to his lips, savouring the last bit of latte inside. ‘So now you know, really just, feel free to talk to me anytime. No need for reservations too,’ Taekwoon beams.

‘S-Sure, I’m glad Hakyeon and Sanghyuk couldn’t make it-- shit, I mean-- um, I’m glad we could spend some… um, personal time with each other?’ Jaehwan also drinks up the last bit of hot chocolate, in desperate hopes of the cup hiding the heat in his cheeks. ‘God I’m so sorry, I don’t really think much before saying stuff, would you please just… try to unhear that--’

‘It’s fine,’ Taekwoon chuckles, ‘You’re quite cute, you know.’

‘Me? Ahh… I’m honestly just really _dumb_ but thank you for the kind compliment? You’re too nice, Taekwoon.’

God, could Taekwoon just _stop_ right now, Jaehwan thinks, eyes clenching shut -- he’s doing and saying all sorts of things to make his heart do all sorts of unusual flips in his chest, swarms of butterflies furiously fluttering in the pits of his stomach. Taekwoon definitely knows about his crush by now, if he hadn’t previously. And it almost seems as if he’s somewhat enjoying Jaehwan’s reactions towards his teasing, the flustered replies and the inevitable pinkening of cheeks. This is all too much, _too much_ \--

Jaehwan blinks open right away when he feels a warm, gentle touch to his cheek, the corner of his mouth -- he nearly gasps when he sees Taekwoon leaning over, a concentrated and amused look in his dark eyes as he works at swiping a napkin carefully over the stain of chocolate at the corner of Jaehwan’s (soft) pink lips. It’s almost as if that single moment had been in slow-motion in Jaehwan’s time, it feels like an eternity before Taekwoon finally pulls away -- Jaehwan releasing the long breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding all that time. Taekwoon’s eyes are crinkling up again with a bright smile, adorable wrinkles of skin framing the corners of those dark crescents, and Jaehwan’s heart skips a beat. (once again.)

 ‘Just wanted to clean up some of that chocolate staining your cheek,’ Taekwoon clarifies, and notices how the dazed look is back in Jaehwan’s large eyes. ‘Since we’re pretty much finished, shall we head off?’

‘Alright, I shall check the timings for my bus arrival first,’ Jaehwan hastily fishes out the phone from his pocket, ‘And… you, Taekwoon? How would you be going home?’

‘My place isn’t too far from here -- well, walking distance is bearable, at least,’ Taekwoon laughs. ‘It’s nice, taking a break from hectic life and just basking in the beauty of nature.’

‘Oh, that’s really nice! Maybe I should try that out one day, too.’

‘You really should, I promise it’ll be worth it!’

‘Oh--‘ A look of worry flashes across Jaehwan’s face as he scans over the screen of his phone, sighing heavily. ‘Dang it. The bus currently on the run had just broken down halfway and the next service will take at least an hour more to arrive. Just my luck.’

‘Maybe it’s the heavens telling you to take a walk back today?’ Taekwoon looks at Jaehwan seriously for a good moment before his expression breaks into a smile. ‘Just kidding, but I mean… It’s an option to consider!’

‘Well,’ Jaehwan sighs and slips the phone back into his pocket, trying his best to maintain a calm and cool expression on his face so as not to give it away that he’s completely excited, ‘I ahh, guess you’re right!’

‘Great.’ Taekwoon grins. ‘Put your coat and scarf back on first, though. The weather has been pretty unforgiving lately. Don’t want to be catching a cold now, do we?’

 

═ ❄ ═

 

‘Never knew you lived in the same neighbourhood too!’ Jaehwan chirps, shuffling up to catch up with Taekwoon.

The weather is indeed pretty chilly, Jaehwan sniffs as he grabs the ends of his fluffy scarf to wrap it tighter around his neck, as well as to shield his sensitive ears -- but it’s definitely worth it, Jaehwan thinks, as he looks around and admires the scenery that he’s honestly not cared much about when in the bus, tapping away at a game on his phone. It’s snowed quite a bit the last night, boots trudging through a layer of soft clean snow blanketing the sidewalk. There are a good variety of tree types adorning the pathways -- spruces, sycamores, figs: the needle-like leaves of the evergreens as well as the bare branches of the other trees, coated beautifully with a perfect smattering of pure white. There are a good number of birds around, too: each of them coloured so beautifully and uniquely, cute rounded bodies and sharp beaks -- perched on snow-drenched branches or flying around from tree to tree, exploring the place eagerly. A few snowmen are spotted too -- surrounded by little kids bundled up in thick padded clothing and their happy parents, proud at their little works of art.

‘Yeah. Pretty much all the students who don’t live in the school dormitories live around here, in this neighbourhood,’ Taekwoon smiles, pleased at the look of pure awe on Jaehwan’s face. He’s cute, soft little gasps escaping cold-chapped lips, face half buried into his scarf -- almost looking like a child in an amusement park for the very first time.

‘That makes sense,’ Jaehwan giggles, sound muffled. ‘God,’ Jaehwan sniffs, clasps his shivering hands together and rubs them together, desperately trying to generate some body heat to save this particular body part that’s incredibly numbed and feels almost as if it’s about to freeze and fall off any moment. ‘Would have brought some heat packs and cotton gloves, if I knew I was going to walk home like this.’ Jaehwan looks up at Taekwoon, who’s looking concerned. Well, at least Jaehwan now has a feasible excuse for his flushed cheeks. ‘It’s okay, I get cold easily,’ he explains.

A warm hand touches and holds Jaehwan’s ones, suddenly -- Jaehwan bites his lip when he looks over to see Taekwoon’s pale, larger hands clasping and cupping his own freezing ones, in some attempt to help Jaehwan warm up. There’s that same fluttery feeling in his stomach, and Jaehwan almost trips over his own feet to fall flat into the snow -- but is held steady by Taekwoon’s strong grip. Jaehwan looks up and smiles weakly to see Taekwoon returning that same, affectionate smile and now, not just his hands but his entire body is starting to warm up in an unusual way as well -- not because of Taekwoon’s hand holding his, but _because_ of Taekwoon’s hand holding his. Before he knows it, Jaehwan’s mind starts wandering off to nice, fluffy places again: like thinking up cute dates and scenarios where couples walk together, hand in hand in the cold weather, bodies and hearts warmed with love.

‘I’m not too sensitive to the cold, so my hands are still pretty warm,’ Taekwoon interlocks their fingers together, beaming. ‘Hopefully it’ll help a little? Gosh, your hands are freezing. There’s a convenience store nearby, I could walk over to get some heat packs if you--‘

‘No-- no need for that! I like this-- I mean, I don’t want to trouble you, you know.’ Jaehwan clenches his eyes shut and swears at himself for his stupidity and uncooperative mouth. His hand shifts in Taekwoon’s grip, ‘Besides, I think this-- your hand um, holding mine, is… pretty effective. I mean, my hands definitely don’t feel like they’re about to freeze off anytime anymore, as they were just now.’

‘Okay,’ Taekwoon chuckles, filled with affection at the constant blinking of Jaehwan’s large eyes and the way the tips of his ears and long nose are reddened with the cold. ‘Ahh, I feel bad for asking you to walk home, didn’t know you’d be so affected by the cold. Really sorry, Jaehwan.’

‘No, it’s really okay!’ Jaehwan quickly speaks, ‘It was… more of my fault, for agreeing with it even when I knew too well about my sensitivity.’

‘Make sure to bring along some heat packs, for the next time we do this again!’

Jaehwan blinks slowly. Did he hear that right? Did Taekwoon really say _again_? And the way he’d said it so naturally, like it was an automatic assumption--

‘S-Sure! I will, definitely.’

(Though it’d be nice to let the heat packs slip my mind sometimes, Jaehwan thinks, just so Taekwoon would do this again…)

‘Oh look!’ Taekwoon suddenly exclaims, eyes shining as he gestures towards somewhere further up on the street. ‘It’s Coffee!’ Taekwoon tugs on a surprised and confused Jaehwan’s hand, smiling. ‘Let’s walk faster, you see up there? That’s my elderly neighbour walking her Corgi puppy, Coffee!’

‘Oh?’ Jaehwan finally looks ahead to see a grey-haired old lady, back slightly bent, donned in a fluffy purple coat -- an adorable, loving toothless smile on her face. Jaehwan smiles, and melts when his gaze falls on the little coffee-coloured puppy on the leash -- little padded shoes on his little feet, itself wrapped in a clearly handmade, knitted sweater, tail wagging excitedly and barking with high little sounds.

The two finally meet up close with the old lady and her puppy.

‘Hi Mrs Kim!’ Taekwoon beams and bows down respectfully, Jaehwan following after.

‘--and hello Coffee!’ Taekwoon bends and squats down to pat and scratch under the excited puppy’s head, his voice automatically switching to one kindergarten teachers would use with their children, the puppy whining cutely and nuzzling it’s soft body against Taekwoon’s palm.

Jaehwan also squats down, filled with adoration for this little puppy. Jaehwan giggles when Taekwoon passes the puppy over -- laughing breathily as he pets and runs his fingers through its amazingly soft and well groomed fur, melts at how the puppy’s eyes are closed into little curved lines of pure happiness, all kinds of sounds of contentment escaping its little mouth.

‘Coffee,’ Jaehwan says, and the puppy’s ears perk up in excitement at the sound of his name. ‘You’re so cute, Coffee, so cute!’ Jaehwan scratches playfully behind the puppy’s ears and giggles when it wriggles, soft body squirming around with excitement.

‘You must like dogs very much, Jaehwan.’

Jaehwan looks up to see Taekwoon, blushes at the amused look across his handsome face. ‘Yeah, and I didn’t know you did too!’

‘One thing you should know, Jaehwan,’ Taekwoon chuckles as he pets at Coffee’s head, ‘I have a really soft spot for little kids and animals.’

(And maybe you, Jaehwan.)

‘Ohh, never would’ve imagined! It’s honestly hard to believe how friendly and soft inside you are in reality, with how stoic you always seem to be.’

‘I guess I should start smiling more in school, perhaps the reason why I don’t have many friends is because of that--‘

‘No-- It’s completely fine, being the way you are right now, I mean. You don’t have to change yourself just to fit within others’ expectations. I really like how genuine you are.’ Jaehwan feels his cheeks heating up, ‘It’s… it’s nice to find people like that.’

‘That’s really nice of you to say, Jaehwan.’ Jaehwan looks up slowly to Taekwoon, and is that a shy smile on his face right now, or is that all in Jaehwan’s head?

‘Anyway, back to dogs,’ Taekwoon suddenly interrupts, laughing, perhaps after catching himself off guard with the feelings that suddenly consumed him upon Jaehwan’s kind words. ‘Um, what’s your favourite breed of dogs? Mine are definitely Corgis, but I think Shih Tzus and Chihuahuas are really cute too.’

‘Oh? Corgis are my favourite breed of dogs too! They’re just adorable, long bodies and disproportionately short but cute legs.’ Jaehwan chirps, smiling at the way Coffee barks, as if he’d understood the praise. ‘Also, maybe because I’ve been--‘ Jaehwan hesitates, voice dying down. _Shit, why’d he even think to say that? Hopefully Taekwoon hadn’t heard--_

‘You’ve been?’

God, Jaehwan makes a mental note to train himself to think carefully before saying things he’s going to regret a second later.

‘I’ve ahh, been told by others that I resemble a Corgi?’ Jaehwan groans into his hands, before looking up at Taekwoon again, ‘I shouldn’t have said that, I’m--‘

‘Hey, you do look like one!’ Taekwoon laughs and Jaehwan thinks that the heat radiating off his cheeks might be enough to melt snow, by now.

‘I think it’s your eyes, they’re really large and just… puppy like?’ Taekwoon smiles. ‘Corgis are really cute.’

(Like you, Jaehwan.)

The two are suddenly interrupted by the lady, Mrs Kim, clearing her throat from above.

‘I see you’ve got a friend with you this time, Taekwoon-ah. If my ears have not failed me yet, is his name Jaehwan?’

‘Yeah it is!’

‘Ah, what a pretty name,’ Mrs Kim smiles kindly at Jaehwan. ‘A really handsome boy too. You’re both really handsome young men!’

‘Ahh, you’re too kind, Mrs Kim.’

‘You guys seem to be really close,’ Mrs Kim says, ‘I’m guessing you’ve been good friends for a long time?’

‘No, actually… we’re classmates but we just started talking and getting to know each other today.’

‘Oh, is that so? I never would’ve guessed! It must be fate, then, you two seem to be hitting it off so well already.’ Mrs Kim gives a sweet, toothless smile again, ‘You two look great together.’

There’s the subtlest blush creeping up on both their faces at this -- pretty pink staining pale cheeks; and it’s not the work of the cold weather. Mrs Kim probably didn’t mean it that way, but--

The two of them respond with thanks at the same time, breaths hitched and hearts fluttering -- the weather doesn’t even seem all that chilly now.

//

‘Oh? We’ve reached my house already.’ Jaehwan says, pulling his scarf down to speak clearly. ‘Thanks for keeping me company all this time, Taekwoon.’

‘No worries at all, your place is on the way anyway. It’s a really short walk from here to my house.’

‘Still, thank you so much for the nice chat and walk! If not for you, I wouldn’t have thought to take time out to appreciate the breath-taking scenery. Especially now when everything’s so pretty, with the snow and all.’

‘Well, I’m glad you didn’t think it was boring,’ Taekwoon smiles, and squeezes Jaehwan’s hand in his ones. ‘I realised we haven’t exchanged numbers yet, since we haven’t done any projects together this year.’ Taekwoon shuffles for the phone in his pocket, a look of sincerity in his eyes as he hands the phone over.

‘Oh… right!’ Jaehwan’s heart races as he takes out his own phone and unlocks it before passing it over for Taekwoon to add his contact. The exchange of numbers is done in a few seconds, both handing the phones back to their respective owners with small smiles.

‘Bye, Taekwoon.’

‘See you tomorrow.’

Taekwoon waves Jaehwan off happily, before walking off slowly, frame broad and tall, enhanced especially with the long, black coat he’s wearing -- gorgeous against the backdrop of clusters of snow-drenched trees.

Just one day, and Jaehwan’s already found out so much more about Taekwoon than he’d ever hoped for, which is amazing. Jaehwan’s also starting to think the feelings between him and Taekwoon _might_ not be that one-sided on his part, after all. Perhaps it’s just Jaehwan’s ever-wandering mind making things up to suit his desired outcome -- he sure hopes not.

(It’s not.)

There’s still a lingering worry and uncertainty of what to get Taekwoon for the Secret Santa activity, though.

 

═ ❄ ═

 

‘So _you’re_ the reason as to why Jaehwan’s been skipping lunches with us lately.’

Jaehwan’s ears perk up at the familiar voice trailing from above, a feeling of pure dread encompassing his entire being as he looks up slowly -- Hakyeon and Sanghyuk, with food trays in their hands and sweet yet devilish smiles on their faces. Jaehwan looks over to Taekwoon, his expression undecipherable, perhaps one of amusement.

‘May we join the two of you?’

‘Sure,’ Taekwoon says, and Jaehwan mutters out a curse, sound muffled by the food in his mouth.

‘What was that, Jaehwan?’

‘A cry of excitement because I’m so terribly excited to see you guys,’ Jaehwan deadpans, his heart swelling a little at the soft chuckle Taekwoon lets out beside him.

‘I don’t think Jaehwan likes the idea of us joining them, Sanghyuk-ah.’ Hakyeon sighs and grabs his tray. ‘Let’s not interrupt their personal time together, shall we? Look at that glare Jaehwan’s giving us!’

‘No, who says? I’m perfectly alright with your company!’ Jaehwan quickly grabs at Hakyeon’s wrist, expression breaking into an elated one, bright smile on his face; but in contrast, nails tightening and biting into the skin of Hakyeon’s wrist in some sort of warning. ‘Come on, join us.’

Jaehwan smiles weakly at Taekwoon when Sanghyuk and Hakyeon finally settle down, then looks back at the two cheeky faces sitting across him, exchanging knowing looks amongst themselves. They start grinning: looking from Taekwoon to Jaehwan to Taekwoon again and not-so-subtly implying something between the two of them. Jaehwan clenches his teeth, desperately hoping that Taekwoon doesn’t take them seriously. Those devils better not say anything stupid and screw it all up--

‘So Jaehwan,’ Sanghyuk starts first, sipping sweetly at his drink, and Jaehwan’s fists clench involuntarily under the table with anxiety. He’s got to think of some way to escape this situation quickly -- or else every word coming out of his two friends’ mouths is sooner or later going to drive him into a heart attack or an embarrassing mental breakdown. ‘Your reason for choosing Taekwoon over us?’

‘Well,’ Jaehwan looks at Sanghyuk intently as he thinks of a good answer, trying his best to shoot out as many invisible daggers as possible from his large eyes, ‘Taekwoon’s a million times nicer than the both of you, for one thing.’

‘Oooh,’ the two of them coo at the same time, looking at each other mischievously, purposely dragging out their sound effect for the maximum impact on Jaehwan. It sure does the trick -- Jaehwan’s cheeks heat up impossibly fast at this, he’d melt into a puddle on the floor right now if he could. ‘Jaehwan, are you sure it’s just because he’s nicer that you’re hanging out with him more?’ Sanghyuk chuckles, an annoying glint in his eyes. ‘Not because of like, a _crush_ , or anything?’

At this, Jaehwan bites his lip and nearly rises out of his seat in a rash attempt to drag the both of them somewhere else to teach them a lesson -- before there’s a warm, comforting squeeze to his shoulder. Jaehwan looks over, wide-eyed -- Taekwoon’s smiling warmly, arm casually slung across Jaehwan’s shoulder. Hakyeon and Sanghyuk’s eyes widen comically at the sudden, unexpected initiation of skinship, mouths agape.

‘I think it’s time you two to stop teasing your dear friend right here,’ Taekwoon says. ‘We just became really good friends, on that day you guys disappeared after planning a meet-up at the café and left us both together.’

‘Y-Yeah, I mean, yeah,’ Jaehwan adds in, speech stuttered and cheeks flushed -- not from anger but rather, more from the heart-fluttering warm touch, that’s still lingering on his shoulder. ‘You guys think too much into things.’

Taekwoon sips up the last bit of drink in his disposable cup and picks his tray up, taps on Jaehwan’s shoulder and gestures for him to get up as well.

‘I think Jaehwan and I shall make a move first, since we started eating earlier and have finished our meal already,’ Taekwoon smiles as he looks at the two boys sitting opposite. ‘We have somewhere to go.’

//

‘Wait, what?’ Jaehwan chirps, heart racing in his chest when Taekwoon drags them out of the cafeteria towards somewhere still unknown to Jaehwan -- his grip firm around Jaehwan’s wrist. Jaehwan bites his lip somewhat excitedly as he simply follows along, completely trusting and extremely curious as well. ‘What’s this about? You didn’t tell me anything?’

Taekwoon finally stops them in front of one of their school’s many recital rooms, grins at Jaehwan as he fumbles for something in his pocket and finally takes out a polished metal key. ‘Remember I told you about how I play the piano and how I’m really interested in composing?’ Taekwoon fits the key into the lock and twists, door opening with a satisfying click.

Jaehwan nods, eyes shining and full of anticipation.

‘You seemed really excited when I told you about it and I still remember you telling me that you _had_ to be the first person to listen to my first composition, so. I booked this room to show it to you.’ Taekwoon steps into the room and flicks the light switch on, pleased at the genuine look of excitement on Jaehwan’s adorable face. ‘I finally perfected my first ever composition yesterday.’

‘Wow,’ Jaehwan whispers, ‘I’m so touched, like… I never expected you to take me seriously but you did?’

‘Of course, I take everything you say seriously.’

Jaehwan falls a little more in love, each time.

Taekwoon proceeds to the grand piano placed in the corner of the small, soundproofed room. He almost gasps at the beauty of it as he runs his fingers carefully across the hard surface -- the piano’s exterior a sleek, pure black; polished and shining effortlessly with extreme maintenance. The cover is carefully lifted up, before Taekwoon sighs and sits down in its accompanied, cushioned seat. Taekwoon looks over his shoulder to Jaehwan who’s still standing behind, cheeks a pretty pink and fingers nervously twiddling around.

‘Come, join me.’ Taekwoon shifts a little in the plush seat, the sitting area generous enough to fit two people. Just perfect. Taekwoon pats softly at the cleared space and smiles. Jaehwan bites his lip, legs wobbly and it’s a miracle he doesn’t trip over his own feet before reaching the piano. Jaehwan smiles weakly at Taekwoon before sitting down, cheeks heating up once again at the sudden proximity between them, due to the need for the both of them to fit into a single chair. This is so, so much, it’s overwhelming--

‘Honestly, I’m really nervous right now, my first time and all.’ Taekwoon laughs softly and places his long, pretty fingers on the starting notes of his composition, and looks over to Jaehwan. Jaehwan doesn’t even know why he’s so nervous, he’s not the one showing off a composition for the first time, there is absolutely no need for his  stomach to be flipping and fluttering so much right now. Jaehwan quickly smiles, though, and pats shyly at Taekwoon’s back in some attempt to calm his nerves, skin tingling at the touch.

‘Don’t worry at all, I’m sure it’ll be amazing!’

Taekwoon nods at Jaehwan, taking in a deep breath and releasing a long-drawn sigh, before finally starting.

The beginning is soft and sweet sounding -- Jaehwan watches, breath caught in his throat as Taekwoon’s fingers move slowly, chords changing and complementing each other perfectly. There’s a new, charming glint of focus and passion in Taekwoon’s dark gaze, as he so carefully controls the strength in his fingers, eyes falling shut occasionally as he slowly immerses himself into this single moment, soaking in the emotions and feelings of his very composition. The song slowly progresses into the chorus -- the sound of it is absolutely beautiful, familiar like the tunes of various well-known sweet songs and _yet,_ there’s a fresh uniqueness to it that only Taekwoon can give. Jaehwan watches, lips parted in an unsounded gasp and completely _enthralled_ , as Taekwoon’s pale, long fingers flutter so beautifully elegantly over the piano keys, in its wake a lovely tune filling the small room. In this moment, with just the two of them in a room filled with such pretty music -- Jaehwan feels at the prime of his life, incomprehensible waves of intertwined emotions coursing throughout his body. The song slows once again as it nears its end -- similar to how it started, soft and sweet, and then it ends with a perfectly executed, breath-taking arpeggiation.

(In this moment, completely overwhelmed with emotion: it’s almost as if Jaehwan had had imaginary chains holding him back before, but they’ve just suddenly been broken, somehow -- he feels free, uninhibited, and there’s a sudden _yearning_ in him to want to spill his heart out and just confess his feelings for Taekwoon.)

There’s a period of silence in the room when the piece ends. It’s filled with lingering emotions from the composition, and everything but feelings of awkwardness. Jaehwan is first to break the silence when he lets out the breath he’d held during the song, hands coming together in an applause for Taekwoon’s wonderful performance.

‘You did so well, I can’t even express how amazingly you played. Your composition was absolutely gorgeous, too.’

Jaehwan looks over genuinely and Taekwoon smiles, cherry lips curled up in a bashful way, almost; before there’s a soft whisper of thanks.

Suddenly, Jaehwan places his fingers on the piano too, and he looks over to see a glint of curiosity in Taekwoon’s widened eyes. ‘C-Can I try playing a song too?’

‘Sure, why not?’ Taekwoon responds excitedly, ‘I knew you sang, but you never told me you played the piano too!’

‘Well, my skills are nothing compared to yours, please don’t expect too much,’ Jaehwan laughs weakly, positioning his fingers on the starting notes. ‘I started learning how to play the piano many years ago, but dropped it halfway because preparing for the examinations was too stressful for me.’

Jaehwan looks over to see Taekwoon giving him a firm look of assurance, and lets out a shaky breath. ‘I’m just going to try playing um-- one of my favourite songs.’

_Hopefully, this song will be able to convey my feelings._

The starting is shaky, skills rusty -- Jaehwan bites his lip as his fingers fumble and slip occasionally onto flat-sounding keys -- and then suddenly, there’s that same comforting squeeze to his shoulder again, one of assurance. Soon, Jaehwan feels a new rekindling of passion inside of him, the notes and the familiarity of touch getting to Jaehwan as the chords are better played and the melody now clearer. When the song nears the end of the first verse, Jaehwan hears a soft gasp beside him, as if Taekwoon had recognised the song. Jaehwan takes a deep breath as the song transitions into the chorus -- soft lips parting as he begins to sing:

 _I open the doors to heaven, led by you_  
Walking on an unknown path  
When the doors of heaven are open, will I meet you?  
My answer, I want to find my real answer

Jaehwan’s rich voice echoes beautifully loud and clear in the small recital room -- already well-known for being the star of the school choir, his voice a perfect balance between smooth and husky, flowing like the thickest, sweetest honey and an absolute blessing to a shining-eyed Taekwoon’s ears. The quality of his voice definitely makes up for any lack of skill in his piano-playing, if there was any lack in the first place. Taekwoon feels his body filling with that same comforting warmth, which only ever happens whenever Jaehwan’s around. As the chorus ends, Taekwoon’s slowly flutter shut -- and to Jaehwan’s surprise, starts to join in the second verse:

 _It’s a long way to you but I love the journey_  
Fluttering excitement and  
nervousness strangely mix together  
There’s no same way, what kind of me will I see?  
I’ll figure it out if I go however it spreads out,  
however it is

_This trembling is met after wandering for a long time  
It’s a coziness that’s like a dream and once again_

It’s a miracle Jaehwan doesn’t stop singing and playing the moment he hears a voice join his -- soft and breathy and a perfect complement to his own, singing a tune of a higher pitch, in a perfect harmony with Jaehwan. Jaehwan’s fingers stumble a little at the start, voice faltering -- but he quickly recovers, cheeks heating up and heart thumping in excitement. The both of them are now singing freely, in their own shared place, voices blending so amazingly it’d take a second listen to figure out there isn’t just one person singing -- the song finally proceeds to its bridge and ending verse.

 _When I stand at the end of this road,_  
when I stand right next to you  
Can I look forward to a me who is a bit more mature?  
Being in a world with you  
how would it feel?

 _Once again, I see the light of heaven, it pulls me in_  
Walking on an unknown path  
When the doors of heaven are open, will I meet you?  
My answer, I want to find my real answer

There’s the sound of Taekwoon’s soft clapping immediately after the song ends -- Jaehwan smiles shyly as he releases a long, nervous breath, trembling fingers removing themselves from the piano and placing in his lap, fiddling with the material of his pants at the glorious moment they’d just shared.

‘You played and sung amazingly, Jaehwan.’

‘Well-- it was nothing compared to you but thanks! And you, sure I didn’t tell you I could play the piano but you never told me you could sing too! I’m surprised you knew the lyrics, and your voice sounded great.’

‘That song is actually a personal favourite of mine too,’ Taekwoon laughs, a pretty, breathy sound. ‘It was great only because you sang with me.’

‘N-No way!’ Jaehwan’s voice comes out stuttered, heart racing at Taekwoon’s casual statement which basically implied that the both of them were a great match. Maybe Jaehwan’s overthinking it. Probably.

‘I’m sure your voice would sound amazing on its own.’

‘Fine,’ Taekwoon chuckles, ‘I’ll accept your compliment, then. It’s such high praise coming from the ace of our school’s choir, what an honour!’

‘I’m honestly not that great,’ Jaehwan manages a weak smile, before looking to his watch.

‘Oh? Lessons are starting in five minutes, we’d better start heading out.’

‘Sure,’ Taekwoon carefully closes the lid of the piano and stands up, Jaehwan following after.

‘Before I forget, can I ask you something?’

‘Sure, if I have an answer,’ Taekwoon says, as he fits the metal key in and twists to lock the door.

‘Umm-- about the Secret Santa activity,’ Jaehwan speaks, and Taekwoon nods slowly, ‘Can I ask who is it that you’re getting the gift for?’

‘Well, I do think that’s supposed to be a secret, hence the name of the activity,’ Taekwoon chuckles. ‘So… I guess you’ll find out on the day itself. Which isn’t even too far from now.’ Taekwoon pushes the key into his back pocket. ‘What about you? You won’t tell me who you’re getting the gift for either, would you?’

‘Ahh-- I guess not, then.’ Jaehwan bites his lip, shuffling in front to keep up with Taekwoon. ‘What if I ask, if you’ve gotten a gift for that person yet?’

‘I’ve yet to buy the present,’ Taekwoon stops and smiles at Jaehwan, the expression on his face unreadable. ‘But I think I kinda have an idea of what to get, now.’

‘Ohh.. I see.’

By now, Jaehwan too has an idea of what to get for Taekwoon -- he also thinks he might just have a sense of who Taekwoon’s getting the gift for.

 

═ ❄ ═

 

It’s finally Christmas day, and also the day of the long-awaited Secret Santa gift exchange. The class had booked a chalet for this special occasion, and everyone had arrived early to decorate the place before the planned barbeque dinner and lastly, the gift exchange. Students are cluttered around everywhere as they feast on the barbeque buffet, chatting around with friends, accompanied with the occasional breaking out of laughter. Many wires of bright decorative lights are strung around the staircases and doors -- colourful lights flickering rhythmically, very pretty. Upbeat Christmas music plays aloud, broadcast throughout the chalet -- all of this adding to the burning festive spirit.

‘Okay, class!’ Hakyeon shouts, stood in the centre of the room, right next to the little Christmas tree that a student had kindly brought -- its leaves a rich, dark green, a quaint little golden star placed at the top, its look completed with decorative lights as well as your usual Christmas tree ornaments. The chattering and laughter dies down quickly, a moment of silence for Hakyeon to speak. ‘Now, is the time you guys have all been waiting for!’

Almost immediately, the volume of chattering increases again, cries of excitement and joy.

‘Get your gifts ready, and we shall start the Secret Santa gift exchange now!’ Hakyeon chirps, and the class erupts in cheer. ‘Let’s go!’

Jaehwan quickly sips up the last bit of his drink at this, and hastily rushes to where he’d placed his bag -- and Taekwoon’s Christmas gift. Jaehwan nervously licks his lips as he carefully takes the wrapped present in his hands, eyes searching for Taekwoon. Almost immediately, he spots him -- Taekwoon, smiling, standing tall and broad amongst the other students. He too has got a wrapped gift in his hands, and he’s… walking towards Jaehwan.

The excitement rises in Jaehwan, had he been right about his assumption? It seems more and more probable, as Taekwoon takes step after step in Jaehwan’s direction, inching closer and closer -- Jaehwan’s fingers tighten around Taekwoon’s gift with anticipation.

‘I said you’d find out today who I’d be giving the present to, didn’t I?’ Taekwoon smiles, such a warm look in his eyes. ‘Merry Christmas, Jaehwan-ah.’ Taekwoon carefully passes the nicely wrapped gift to Jaehwan.

‘W-Wow, I never would’ve guessed!’ Jaehwan laughs weakly, irises wavering as his gaze meets Taekwoon’s sincere one.

‘Merry Christmas to you too, Taekwoon.’ Trying his best to control his expression, Jaehwan pushes towards Taekwoon the gift he’d prepared. Taekwoon chuckles as he accepts the gift with a whisper of thanks. ‘Believe me or not,’ Taekwoon smiles, ‘I kinda had an idea that you were getting my gift, somehow. It seems we are the only mutual pair,’ Taekwoon’s gaze flickers around the room, and then back to Jaehwan. Then falling on the pink in his soft looking cheeks. ‘I guess it must really be fate, that brought us together.’

(Damn you, Hakyeon. But also, thank you so much.)

‘Yeah, I guess,’ Jaehwan smiles, gaze lowering shyly onto the present as he nervously fiddles with the cute ribbon securing the gift together.

‘To make things more fun,’ Hakyeon speaks again, voice loud and clear in the chalet. ‘Let’s unwrap our gifts now!’

Immediately, the place is filled with some groans and cries of horror. And then there’s the sound of the ripping of paper, the crinkle of plastic -- accompanied with various cries of satisfaction and joy, but also accompanied with joking curses at friends who’d gotten things like toilet paper and underwear and other things that shall not be mentioned. Taekwoon and Jaehwan both smile at each other before carefully unwrapping their gifts -- both about the same size, carefully and lovingly wrapped up.

The first thing Jaehwan sees upon unwrapping the gift is a soft, small Corgi plushie. It’s followed by a soft cry of surprise, an elated smile on Jaehwan’s face as he hugs and squeezes the soft toy gently. It’s adorable -- it looks really similar to Coffee, it’s eyes large and almost teardrop like, cute short limbs protruding from its soft body. The next thing he sees is a small box, eyes widening -- it’s very similar to one he’d also given to Taekwoon.

Taekwoon smiles as he’s greeted with two boxes -- one of them is a clear box, showcasing a miniature piano, carved precisely out of cherry wood. It says it’s a music box, Taekwoon sighs with contentment when he carefully takes the wooden piano out of its box and gently twists the little metal key at the back -- soft music starts twinkling from the piano piece, to Taekwoon’s delight.  The second box is opaque, and as Taekwoon uncovers it, he gasps, looking at Jaehwan.

Jaehwan also meets his gaze, eyes wide and there in his hands is a small handheld cassette player, with it a pair of earphones. Taekwoon bites his lip as he looks down in his own hand -- a very similar cassette player laying in his palm, also attached with it a pair of earphones. Jaehwan looks at Taekwoon, gaze quickly flickering down at the ground shyly --  swallowing nervously as he brings the earbud to his ear, fitting it in perfectly. Jaehwan bites his lip, a shaky finger hovering across the play button before pressing down on it. The strangely familiar tune sends chills down Jaehwan’s spine:

 _Words on the tip of my tongue_  
Words that I want to say only when I see you  
That you’re too precious, I’m gonna protect you  
Those words that I’ve been holding in

Jaehwan looks up to see that same shocked look in Taekwoon’s dark, glazed eyes. His dazed expression slowly, gradually melts into one of unspoken joy and gratitude, matching that of Jaehwan’s -- both immensely _touched_. In Taekwoon’s ear, Jaehwan’s sweet voice sings the same lovely tune:

 _I love you, I love you, I love you_  
Because saying just once or twice isn’t enough  
I can’t save it, I can’t hide it  
I’m confessing my true heart 

They’d both chosen to give the other a cassette player, _and_ had both chosen the same song to sing in their tapes. There, physically, were Taekwoon and Jaehwan in the chalet filled with students and with chaos and chatter -- but at the same time it felt as if they were both in a place of peace and absolute _tranquil_ : a single soft voice singing a sweet song of love, melodies echoing beautifully in their shared, personal place.

(And there it was -- the answer they’d been waiting for.)

Taekwoon looks to Jaehwan and his large eyes are shining unusually wet beneath his rounded glasses. In those dark irises, Taekwoon sees the reflection of a mix of colours, twinkling Christmas lights, and a reflection of _something else_ , very similar to the look in his own eyes -- delving in deep and losing himself in the soft dark chocolate of Jaehwan’s irises, Taekwoon sees a bright spark of pure adoration. Jaehwan has never looked so pretty.

And Taekwoon -- he has never felt so in _love_.

//

‘Wow, the Christmas decorations in  the city are so, so pretty,’ Jaehwan gasps, head continuously tipped up and gaze never leaving the many clusters of bright, flickering lights strung and hung across tree to tree, street lamp to street lamp.

‘Yeah, they really are.’

Taekwoon smiles as he squeezes Jaehwan’s hand softly in his own and _this_ , this feels familiar -- Jaehwan recounts back to the first day Hakyeon and Sanghyuk had ditched them, and giggles to himself at how secretly thankful he is to those devils for that day, for everything that’s happened thus far. This -- long coats draped over shoulders, shoes trudging through soft, pure snow, hand in hand and keeping the other warm. It’s extremely similar to the cute couples’ date Jaehwan had imagined that day -- only this time, it’s in the dark of the night during the festive season, and it’s _real_. It’s happening right now, and it feels almost _dreamlike_.

‘You’re so weird sometimes, Jaehwan. Giggling to yourself so suddenly.’ Taekwoon chuckles at the way Jaehwan’s eyes widen sheepishly, like he’d just caught himself off guard.

‘Oh?’ Jaehwan brushes his fringe from his eyes, hand squeezing Taekwoon’s one unconsciously. ‘I was… was just thinking about how… this is nice. Really nice.’ Jaehwan looks up at a smiling Taekwoon and giggles. ‘I like it, very much.’

‘Cute.’ Taekwoon stops and brings a hand up to Jaehwan’s cheek, squeezing the soft flesh playfully between his thumb and index finger. Jaehwan gasps, and Taekwoon notes how the skin of his cheek warms up under his touch, ever so slightly. Suddenly overcome with a strange compelling attraction towards Jaehwan again, Taekwoon withdraws his touch -- lowering his gaze to the snow by his feet as a smile itches at the corners of his lips.

Suddenly, there’s an excited tug to his hand, ‘Look, Taekwoon, that Christmas tree!’

Taekwoon looks up and sees there, in the centre of the vast city square, standing tall: an enormous Christmas tree -- almost majestic looking at first sight, gloriously decorated with an unimaginable number of prettily shining ornaments, looking almost ethereal with how it’s illuminated with a twinkling, soft white light.

‘It’s beautiful.’

‘Shall we take a picture there to… celebrate this day?’

‘Sure, of course.’

There’s a sudden shrill cry of surprise beside him, and Taekwoon’s heart nearly stops -- he looks over to see Jaehwan looking extremely horrified, and there, the sources of his horror: Hakyeon and Sanghyuk who, in an attempt to surprise their friend, had pounced mercilessly on a now furious looking Jaehwan. With the usual cheeky grins on their faces. Taekwoon tries to hide his small smile at Jaehwan’s highly exaggerated reaction.

‘You guys,’ Jaehwan starts, an angry pout playing on his pursed lips, and honestly, Taekwoon thinks -- how’s anyone to take him seriously when he looks so _adorable_ like this?

‘You guys nearly killed me! I nearly had a heart attack, I’m not even kidding!’

(When he’s angry and flustered, Taekwoon notices that Jaehwan trips over his words and stutters a lot. It’s cute.)

Hakyeon and Sanghyuk merely give Jaehwan identical teeth-filled grins, not in the least bit bothered by his angry outburst.

‘We followed you here, Jaehwan, to give you your Christmas gift.’ Sanghyuk starts, and Jaehwan, always so _soft_ \-- his gaze immediately softens, and melts away into one of gratitude. ‘We’ve been friends for so many years, even though we aren’t your Secret Santas, it’s just a given that we should still get you a gift, right?’

Jaehwan feels a sour twinge in his nose, a painful sting in his eyes. Those devils weren’t a hundred-percent evil after all. Jaehwan knew it all this while: a part of him always told him not to completely give up on them and trust in their rarely displayed good sides--

Hakyeon and Sanghyuk both reach into the bag in Sanghyuk’s hands at the same time and pull out something strangely familiar looking -- something Jaehwan had often seen in various cheesy romantic dramas before. Hakyeon and Sanghyuk are both holding almost identical stalks of plant looking things, adorned with a red ribbon at the top, green rounded leaves accompanied with clusters of small pale spheres of fruit. Realisation finally dawns on Jaehwan as the two of them suddenly reach up to hold their stalks of plant above Taekwoon and himself.

It’s mistletoe, Jaehwan’s cheeks start to heat up, lip worried between his teeth. _Under the mistletoe_ \--

‘What are you two waiting for?’ Hakyeon chirps, exchanging a look of glee with Sanghyuk. ‘What are you supposed to do under the mistletoe?’

‘I… I don’t know,’ Jaehwan stammers. His heart races when he looks up at Taekwoon, the latter’s expression unreadable. Maybe Taekwoon genuinely didn’t know. Jaehwan doesn’t know whether to be thankful about it, being saved the embarrassment of sharing such an intimate moment in front of two friends; _or_ to feel terrible, letting such a great opportunity that his friends had so generously made, slip. There’s just, too much going on now and it’s hard to think straight, and suddenly--

A firm arm snaking around his middle, a hand squeezing at the curve of his waist -- Jaehwan’s eyes blink open as he’s brought face to face with Taekwoon, their faces barely inches apart and almost touching. A warm touch, a gentle hand cradling his face, and then Taekwoon’s leaning down with a glint in his dark eyes -- Jaehwan’s eyes are fluttering shut unconsciously, at the feel of warm lips meeting his own ones: lips so plush and so soft, is this all just a dream? Taekwoon’s heart thumps wildly in his chest -- he’d not expected that sudden, almost rash move to come from himself, of all people. But that thought is quickly pushed to the back of his mind and completely forgotten because right now, he’s got Jaehwan held tight in his arms, right now: _he’s kissing Jaehwan_. Jaehwan’s lips part so slightly beneath his ones, his surprised gasp muffled and lost between their lips. Taekwoon’s skin tingles where his fingers softly graze the side of Jaehwan’s pretty, heated face, and his stomach flips at the feel of Jaehwan’s lips -- slightly chapped from the cold weather yet still unbelievably soft, just like how they always look to be. Maybe it’s from his lip balm, maybe not -- Jaehwan’s lips, they taste just like the freshest, _sweetest_ strawberries.

Taekwoon pulls away, takes a deep breath, hand still cradling Jaehwan’s face, arm still secured around Jaehwan’s waist. There’s that dazed look in Jaehwan’s large, blinking eyes, pupils blown wide -- his pale cheeks stained a pretty cherry red, strawberry pink lips parted and glistening oh, so prettily. The city buzz quietens down, Hakyeon’s and Sanghyuk’s squeals and fanboying noises slowly die down as well; once again drowned out by a jarring peace and silence shared between only the two of them -- identical shy smiles playing on both their lips, and both sharing the same warm gaze, filled with adoration.

_‘Merry Christmas.’_

 

═ ❄ ═ 

**Author's Note:**

> \- inspired by a prompt where a friend rigs secret santa for certain desired outcomes :)))  
> \- the first song (jaehwan played on the piano) is eric nam’s “heaven’s door”! i was going on long search for lovesongs and came across this. the lyrics seemed to fit pretty well and so i checked the mv and song out -- the song was great and the mv was filmed during winter, like, how fitting! felt like i’d struck jackpot, no lie. :D  
> \- the second song (keo sang for each other in their cassette tapes) is k.will’s “my heart is beating”. the perfect confession, how sweet.  
> \- thanks for reading up till here, comments and kudos are really appreciated! ♥♥♥


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